How do we know that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John wrote the 4 gospels ?

(Dont try to look inside the gospels themselves, the authors name is NOT there !!!)

4Writings by Early Church Fathers

St. Irenaeus Bishop of Lyons (120 AD)

"Matthew published his Gospel among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and Paul were preaching and founding the church in Rome. After their departure Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, also transmitted to us in writing those things which Peter had preached and Luke, the attendant of Paul, recorded in a book the Gospel which Paul had declared. Afterwards John, the disciple of the Lord, who also reclined on his bosom, published his Gospel, while staying at Ephesus in Asia."

5Writings by Early Church Fathers

Eusibius Bishop of Cæsarea (260 AD)

"The Gospels containing the genealogies, he says, were written first. The Gospel according to MARK had this occasion. As Peter had preached the Word publicly at Rome, and declared the Gospel by the Spirit, many who were present requested that Mark, who had followed him for a long time and remembered his sayings, should write them out. And having composed the Gospel he gave it to those who had requested it. When Peter learned of this, he neither directly forbade nor encouraged it. But, last of all, JOHN, perceiving that the external facts had been made plain in the Gospel, being urged by his friends, and inspired by the Spirit, composed a spiritual Gospel."

6Who were the gospel authors

Matthew one of Jesus disciples who was a tax collector

Mark follower of Peter, who was one of Jesus disciples

Luke follower of Paul who was a Pharisee converted by Jesus

John one of Jesus disciples the youngest disciple of Jesus

7Further evidence for true authors

Lack of prominence of the gospel writers (with the exception of John)

If youre gonna fake the gospel, you might as well make it look very good by having heavy weights to write the gospels (like Peter)

Jesus said, "Look, I will guide her to make her male.... For every female who makes herself male will enter the kingdom of Heaven"

9Fake gospel Peter (120 AD)

Some verses from this gospel (concerning Jesus resurrection)

...they saw three men come out of the tomb, two of them sustaining the other one, and a cross following after them

... The head of the two they saw had heads that reached up to heaven, but the head of him that was led by them went beyond heaven

The resurrected Jesus was HUGE

10Checkup

We have reliable testimonies that Matthew, Mark, Luke and John were authors of the gospels

Next question

Are they reliable eyewitnesses ?

Are the things they wrote down true ?

11Results from Biblical research

Im quoting from studies on dating the gospels.

Even the most liberal scholars agree that

Mark was written in the 70s AD

Matthew and Luke written in the 80s AD

John written in the 90s AD

12Implications of these dates

Jesus died around 30 AD

Marks gospel written around 70 AD

..

So the gospel was in circulation 40 yrs after the main event (Jesus death)

There are still people alive who knew Jesus and what he did in 70 AD

If anything is suspect in Marks gospel, you will hear about it (like John Kerry on Vietnam ! then 1968 now 2004 )

13An even earlier date for Luke

A case can be made to date the Gospel of Luke before 60 AD (30 yrs after Jesus death)

Gospel of Luke written AFTER Acts

Acts ENDS without telling us about Pauls death in 62 AD

Act probably written BEFORE Pauls death in 62 AD

Gospel of Luke would then be written before 60 AD ! (Takes time to write)

14Even earlier testimonies to Jesus

Gospels were all written after Paul's letters !!!

Paul's conversion occurred around 32 A.D

Paul's first meeting with the apostles in Jerusalem occurred around 35 A.D

Paul's ministry probably began in the 40's AD

Paul's letter probably written in the 50's A.D. (20 yrs after Jesus death)

15Conclusions

Gospels were written by eyewitnesses or people who followed eyewitnesses to Jesus teaching

Gospels were written and read when there were still hostile eyewitnesses (Pharisees) who knew Jesus

Content of the original gospels must be very accurate because otherwise the content would be disputed (like John Kerrys claims)

About PowerShow.com

PowerShow.com is a leading presentation/slideshow sharing website. Whether your application is business, how-to, education, medicine, school, church, sales, marketing, online training or just for fun, PowerShow.com is a great resource. And, best of all, most of its cool features are free and easy to use.

You can use PowerShow.com to find and download example online PowerPoint ppt presentations on just about any topic you can imagine so you can learn how to improve your own slides and
presentations for free. Or use it to find and download high-quality how-to PowerPoint ppt presentations with illustrated or animated slides that will teach you how to do something new, also for free. Or use it to upload your own PowerPoint slides so you can share them with your teachers, class, students, bosses, employees, customers, potential investors or the world. Or use it to create really cool photo slideshows - with 2D and 3D transitions, animation, and your choice of music - that you can share with your Facebook friends or Google+ circles. That's all free as well!

For a small fee you can get the industry's best online privacy or publicly promote your presentations and slide shows with top rankings. But aside from that it's free. We'll even convert your presentations and slide shows into the universal Flash format with all their original multimedia glory, including animation, 2D and 3D transition effects, embedded music or other audio, or even video embedded in slides. All for free. Most of the presentations and slideshows on PowerShow.com are free to view, many are even free to download. (You can choose whether to allow people to download your original PowerPoint presentations and photo slideshows for a fee or free or not at all.) Check out PowerShow.com today - for FREE. There is truly something for everyone!

presentations for free. Or use it to find and download high-quality how-to PowerPoint ppt presentations with illustrated or animated slides that will teach you how to do something new, also for free. Or use it to upload your own PowerPoint slides so you can share them with your teachers, class, students, bosses, employees, customers, potential investors or the world. Or use it to create really cool photo slideshows - with 2D and 3D transitions, animation, and your choice of music - that you can share with your Facebook friends or Google+ circles. That's all free as well!

For a small fee you can get the industry's best online privacy or publicly promote your presentations and slide shows with top rankings. But aside from that it's free. We'll even convert your presentations and slide shows into the universal Flash format with all their original multimedia glory, including animation, 2D and 3D transition effects, embedded music or other audio, or even video embedded in slides. All for free. Most of the presentations and slideshows on PowerShow.com are free to view, many are even free to download. (You can choose whether to allow people to download your original PowerPoint presentations and photo slideshows for a fee or free or not at all.) Check out PowerShow.com today - for FREE. There is truly something for everyone!